Made in Great Britain

Kryloned Blasters #30 – Rich P’s TM Recoil Shock L119A1 Rifle

“…thanks for seeing something special in the best airsoft rifle I have ever owned!”

Readers who collaborate with the blog are always too kind. Without their awesome blasters, words and pics, I wouldn’t have very much to say. What I see out there is my inspiration to write, build and paint. And how very inspired I’ve been by the UKSF builds I’ve seen recently.

I’m always surprised at the time, effort and detail that goes into a good UKSF build. There’s a passion and in many cases a deep sense of patriotism which goes into these blasters; and often their associated load outs. There’s also a quiet, no frills, no fuss attitude; much like the units these blasters celebrate.

What drew me to Rich’s blaster, first and foremost, was the awesome paint job. He’s not gone the desert route, but interpreted the diagonal paint jobs seen in the wild, into a woodland scheme. Makes sense if you play woodland.

I was intrigued when I learned of his painting method. Rich tells us more.

“The method I used to paint the gun was to go tan all over, then wrap strips of cling film over the gun. I hung the gun up in my garden by the stock sling hole, using a bit of good old army green string, from a step ladder 🙂

This allowed me to rotate the gun as I then applied some green, before letting it dry a bit and then re-filming and putting some brown on.

I used loads of tiny bits of tape to cover the ladder numbers so they were still visible. Not entirely sure why I bothered as it took ages; but when watching a YouTube vid on US army painting guidelines, this was a requirement. I didn’t bother with many of those guidelines, but for some reason that one stuck!”

“The magazines I did in the same way, however I taped up the top end with parcel tape which I also used to hold the green string that I used to suspend them when painting.

I have always wanted an L119A1 and after spending a year or so getting the parts (Perr Mike barrel, storm grip, etc) my wife brought me a used TM Recoil which I figured was a fantastic gun to warrant the upgrade parts. It’s stock internally except for a longer inner barrel.”

“I think it looks a treat, but practically I mean to trim it down to CQBR length. Performance wise, the original TM barrel seems superior to the Army 6.03 I have installed, which is another reason to shorten the gun.

I’m something of a faddist if I am honest and generally, as soon as I have something, I’m tired of it and want something else. Perhaps half the reason I am now going to make it CQBR length, but part of the reason for not is the effort it will take to put the new front sight on and blend it in.”

“The sling I made myself using an old army bag strap. Readers may recognise it from a photo of another chaps L119A1 from the blog. I messaged him and asked him how he did it and copied it. Works a treat. Not adjustable but once I have it set it is fine. I only really use a sling while walking back to the safe zone or when dead etc so there is no need for it to be tactical – just something to free up my hands to eat a mars bar :)”

Thanks to Rich for the time and effort he put into this blog – it’s really appreciated.